Pierre-Henry Brandet of the French interior ministry said
the attacker had driven up to the site of the attack by car. He got out of the
car and used an automatic weapon to fire on a police van. The attacker killed one police officer and seriously wounded
two other officers. He tried to fire at others as he ran off
before being shot dead by police.

The gunman has been
identified as 39-year-old, Karim Cheurfi who used the alias 'Abu Yousuf the
Belgian'. He was convicted for a 2001 shooting which left two police officers
seriously injured, according to reports, and was given a 20 year jail term in 2003. It appears he was released early.